Lawrence



L. S. HOLMBOE.

PHONOGRAPH RECORD.

APPLICATION r1150 DEC. 19. 1911.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

WITNESSES W. $4M:

LAWRENCE 8 HOLMIBOII!" O F OKLAHOMA, OKLAHOMA.

PHONOGRAPH-BEGOBD.

Specification 0! Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

Application filed December 19, 1917. Serial No. 207,923.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE S. Home non, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Oklahoma cit in the county of Oklahoma and State of klahoma, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Phonograph-Records, of which the followin is a specification.

y invention relates to improvements in phonograph records, and it consists in the constructlons and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a phonographic record having one or a plurality of slots by the use of which. the record is adapted to a record changing mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a phonographic record having one or a plurality of radiating slots in the center, w th pin holes for receiving a pin, both slots and pin holes being employed in cooperation with a record changing mechanism.

Another object of the invention resides in the formation of the sound groove on the surface of the record which includes blank portions at, the beginnin and the end.

Another object of the invention is to provide a phonographic record having a thickened peripheral edge providing the record with a substantial concavity at the top and bottom surfaces, whereby air is pocketed to form an air cushion between two recordswhen one falls upon the other, to lessen the shock of the impact.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a honographic record embodying the princip es of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view showing the action of pocketing the air between two records when one falls upon the other, and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a portion of a record changing mechanism with which the record is used.

This application is a continuation in part of my application filed March 10, 1916, Serial Number 83,375, for talkin machines, in so far as the arrangement of t e radially arranged slots and pin holes in the center of the record, is concerned. The record 1 has a hole 2 in the center, by which the record is centered upon the spindle and tumtable of a phonograph. The record 1 in the present instance, is made of any suitable material or composition which will answer the requirement of recording sound vibrations by means of a sound groove etched or inslcribed on one or both surfaces of the recor The hole 2 communicates with one or more 'slots 3 which radiate therefrom. The slots 3 may glraduall widen outwardl until they reach t e circu 'ar terminal 9. r the sides of the slots may be parallel as shown in my application above referred to, until they reach a substantially rectan lar recess 5 indicated in one instance in otted lines in Fig. 1. The pur se of these slots is to ac commodate certain supporting arms which engage the bottom one of a p1le of records, at redetermined times.

here are two or more of these supporting arms, and these are necessary to equally support the pile of records above. The provision of the plurality of arms makes it necessary to provide an equal number of slotssothat when the arms are turned, all of the arms enter all slots at once and permit the lowermost record to fall flat. In practioe, the slots of the various records are in disalinement, so that when the lowermost record falls the solid portion of the next record engages the arms.

This arrangement of the arms for support ing the pile of records is shown in Fig. 4. This structure is a part of the record changing mechanism in my above entitled ap lication, a portion of which is here brie y described. The arms are indicated 54 and are fixed upon a shaft 53 upon which a pile of the records 1 is slipped through the central hole 2. The arms 54 have rollers 55 on the ends. These rollers engage solid portions of the bottom record, and lessen the friction when the shaft 53 is rotated to artly revolve the arms 54 beneath the plle of records. When the set of slots in the lowermost record reaches the arms,54, said record drops. The arms 54 are arranged spirally to give the record a partial rotation during its fall. A stop pin 58 is provided, and is adapted to enter any one of a plurality of of adapting the record to a record changing mechanism. In this connection, it should be observed that the slots in the center of the record may be arranged in some other manner. It is conceivable that the record changing mechanism may be of such a construction that the radial arrangement of the slots may not be of advantage. When this is the case, it is the intention to so rearrange the slots, either singly or in combination, that the record may be properly adapted to the particular requirements.

In this connection, the record is susceptible to other modifications. Slots or notches 8 may be formed at intervals on the periphery of the record. In the present illustration, these notches are shown of a semicircular formation, and directly opposite the slots 3 in the record. The shape of these notches may be changed. They may be rec tangular and elongated in formation, or they may be aware, V-shaped, or in fact any other suita le form so long as they ma be identified as indentations on the edge ot the record.

Li s or protuberances 9 are also formed on t e edge of the record. These lips are for the same purpose as are the notches 8, namely, for cooperating with a record changing mechanism. There is no particular virtue in the specific relative arrangement of the lips and notches 8, as shown in Fig. 1, since they may be re-arranged, re-combined, or re-formed, to suit the particular needs of the particular record changing mechanism wherein the record is to be employed.

Resuming now, the description of the record. The record 1 is divided into five zones indicated a, b, c, d, and e, in Fig. 3. The zone a lies on the eriphery of the record. The record 1 is thickened in this zone as at The surface of the record slopes gradually through the width of the zone a and is perfectly smooth, having no sound groove. Thepurpose of the slope in the zone a is to guide the reproducing needle to the sound groove, if placed on this sloping surface in the zone a. Obviously, the provision of this sloping portion, makes accurate placing of the reproducing needle unnecessary, because the needle will naturally gravitate toward the sound groove.

. The thickened peripheral portion 7 has two other advantages. When one record is stacked upon theother the peripheral edges will, of course, lie upon the thlckened portion of the record beneath, and consequently elow the end 1, is de- 1 space the superposed records apart. The

sound groove of the record beneath is thus protected from mutilation by the inadvertent sliding of the record on top. Another advantage is, that the record is reinforced at the edge, thus giving the record considerably more mechanical strength than a simple plane disk would have. The thickened portion 7 with the sloping sides in the zone-a has a distinct advantage in the'operation of the record changing mechanism wherein this record is'used. When one record falls upon another, as indicated in Fig. 3, a certain amount of air is pocketed between the opposing surfaces of the records, thus forming an air cushion which materially lessens the shock of the impact of the two records. Each record virtually has a concave surface which pockets the air in such a manner that when one record falls upon the other, the arrival of the falling record on the one beneath, will be silent.

The second zone on the surface of the record 1 is indicated 5. The spiral groove on the surface of the record 1 begins in this zone. The spiral groove, however, is blank, that is to'say, there are no sound vibrations recorded therein. This blank groove also acts as a guide for the reproducing needle. Obviously, the needle may be placed anywhere in the zone 6 and will ultimately be guided to the beginning of the sound groove in the zone a.

The end of the zone 0 in the groove of which the sound vibrations are recorded, ends in the zone d in which the groove is simply a continuation of the groove of the zone c, butis blank like the roove in the zone 5. The purpose of the lank groove in the zone (Z is to insure the proper operation of a swinging portion of the record changing mechanism in my above entitled application. The number of turns or length of the groove in the zone d also determines the time elapsing between the playing of the records.

The zone 6 is perfectly blank and is occupied by the radial slots 3 and the pin holes 6. This blank space is also used for the application of the usual label, stating the name of the selection on the record, and other data.

Theoperation of the record will be clearly understood when the foregoing is taken in connection with the following description. It has been briefly stated that the particular form of the record here illustrated is used in connection with the record changing mechanism of the pending application above referred to. the pile of records illustrated in Fig. 4 is given a slight turn, whereupon the radial slots 3 in the lowermost record, move into alinement with the arms 54:, whereupon the lowermost record drops and is given a slight turn by the spiral formation of the arms 54. The radial slots 3 of the various superposed records are out of alinement witheach other, so that when the record pile is artly turned, only the lowermost record wi 1 fall.

Consider Fig. 3. When the fallin record nearly reaches the record lying on the turn table of the phonograph, the concave and oposing surfaces of the two records, formed y the thickened peripheral edges 7, will cause a certain amount of air to be pocketed between the records, so that the one record falls silently upon the other. The presence of the slightly compressed body of air between the records, also materlally lessens the shock of the impact of the falling record, and thus the performanw of the second function of protecting the record from breakage, is accomplished. The air pocketed between the records, presses against the opposing surfaces thereof substantially as indicated by the arrows between the records.

The substance of which the record 1 is made, may be such as is usually employed, or it may be of any material or composition which will serve the purpose of making a phonographic record for use in a record changing mechanism or a phonograph. However, in any event, the thickened peripheral portion 7 has the added advantage of materially stren thenin the record body. The resence of t e thic ened edge 7 lessens the likelihood of the record being broken in ordinary use. The thickened ed e 7 also serves to space the records apart w en piled one on top of the other, thus protecting the sound groove in the zone c from possible mutilation. It will also be understood that when one record falls upon the other in the act of changin the records, the records will engage at the t ickened edges 7 and not upon the bottom surface of one and the sound groove surface of the other.

The resence of the sloping surface of the record 1n the zone a, and the blank portion of the sound groove in the zone b make the accurate placing of the reproducing needle of the sound box unnecessary. If the needle should happen to fall on the sloping surface on the zone a, it will naturally gravitate toward the blank oove in the zone 1). Should the need e fall in the blank groove b, it will presently be guided to the e 'nning of the sound zone c in WlllCh the sound vibrations are recorded. The extent of the blank grooves in the zones 12 and d and the exact shape of the thickened portion with the sloping surfaces in the zone a, are matters that are to be largely determined by actual experiment.

While the construction and arran ement of the phonographic record illustrate in the accompanying drawing is that of a generally preferred form, obviously modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A record having a central opening and slots communicating therewith.

2. A record having a central openin and a plurality of slots communicating wit the opening and extending into the body of the record.

3. A record having a central opdning with a plurality of slots radiating therefrom, and a plurality of apertures clrcumferentially arranged in said record beyond said grooves, and having a predetermined relation to said Islets.

oove in the 

